Professors from York and Lakehead honoured with OCUFA Service Awards

TORONTO– The Ontario Confederation of University Faculty Associations (OCUFA) is pleased to announce this year’s recipients of the OCUFA Service Award: Craig Heron from the York University Faculty Association (YUFA), and Glenna Knutson from the Lakehead University Faculty Association (LUFA).

“The OCUFA Service Award was established to honour individuals who have done, or continue to do, exceptional work on behalf of OCUFA and its member faculty associations,” said Judy Bates, President of OCUFA. “We are thrilled to bestow this award on two such deserving individuals.”

Craig Heron, a professor at York University, served as a member of OCUFA’s Board from 2012 to 2016. For decades, he has been a leading advocate for faculty rights, collegial governance, academic freedom, and union activism in Ontario. He has been a prominent figure in the campaigns against the corporatization of the university and program prioritization and strives to ensure the faculty around him recognize the larger political importance of their work.

Glenna Knutson, a professor at Lakehead University, served as Chair, Treasurer, and Member-at-Large of the OCUFA Board and Executive where she showed a remarkable dedication to diversity, fairness, and justice. In addition, she has been an active member of OCUFA’s Online Education Committee and represented LUFA on OCUFA’s Collective Bargaining Committee. Glenna has been a uniting force, bringing her colleagues together to build a stronger voice for Ontario’s faculty.

“The recipients of this award have shown remarkable dedication to OCUFA and provided tireless service to their colleagues on their campuses and across Ontario,” said Bates. “Without their work, OCUFA simply could not achieve its goals of protecting the rights and interests of faculty while promoting a high-quality, accessible public university system.”

Professors Heron and Knutson will receive their awards at a ceremony hosted by OCUFA in Toronto on May 13, 2017.

Founded in 1964, OCUFA represents 17,000 faculty and academic librarians in 28 faculty associations across Ontario. For more information, please visit the OCUFA website at www.ocufa.on.ca.

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For more information, contact:

Ben Lewis, Communications Lead at 416-979-2117 x232 or blewis@ocufa.on.ca
OR
Mark Rosenfeld, Executive Director at 416-979-2117 x229 or mrosenfeld@ocufa.on.ca